The Nuclear History of Nevada in a Nut Shell

In the 1940s, the West was lagging behind the rest of America in terms of technological and industrial advancement. The rest of the country was experiencing a massive industrial revolution while the old West remained quiet and laid back. However, when the massive World War II broke out, this situation changed.

The West was pushed into the 20th century when the government embarked on the ambitious Manhattan Project. The project only had one goal and that is to build the world’s first atomic bomb. Quick note you can get an in-depth history lesson by visiting our museum in Las Vegas anytime you would like.

Project Manhattan in Nevada

To create the ultimate weapon, millions of dollars from the federal pumps were pumped into the construction of research centers in the West. For instance, a bomb building laboratory was build at Los Alamos, New Mexico and a fissionable material production center was also put up at Hanford, Washington.

The project was a huge one. It was among the most ambitious and biggest projects of the government. It involved hundreds of people and

Code named the Manhattan Project, this ambitious research and development program pumped millions of dollars of federal funds into new western research centers like the bomb building lab at Los Alamos, New Mexico and the fissionable material production center at Hanford, Washington. Ironically, the very conditions that had once impeded western technological development became benefits: lots of wide-open unpopulated federal land where dangerous experiments could be conducted in secret.